I don’t have any PR machinery, I handle all my accounts myself: Pooja Bhatt

Bollywood actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt says that if she had this kind of access to fans in her days as a film heroine, then the number of her Internet followers would’ve been huge, because she’d tell it like it is.

Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt says that if trolled, she’d tell them to learn to write properly first, and then come back.(Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Be it in person or on her social media accounts, actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt believes in having a no-holds-barred conversation. While Pooja made her acting debut in the ’90s, when social networks weren’t there to connect with fans, she has very well caught up with the times and is now one of the most active celebs on Instagram and Twitter.

“And I don’t have any PR machinery,” she points out. “I handle all my accounts myself. What’s the point in having a Twitter account and having your PR person putting tweets out there? Every comma or every exclamation mark is what I claim for myself.”

Pooja adds that if social media had been as big back then as they are nowadays, things would’ve been quite different. “If we had this kind of access to our fans back in the day, I’d have had a hell of a lot of followers, considering I was known for my photo shoots. I think most people who liked me, between the age group of 35 and 45, at some point have had a poster of me on their wall. So, I’d have had a lot more followers, because I would tell things how they are.”

Known for taking a stand and making bold statements, Pooja doesn’t shy away from saying that back in those days, it was very rare for female actors to say what they felt. “In those days, only Manisha [Koirala] and I were open about our lives; everybody else hid things. We paid the price for it as well. But, there are no complaints,” she states.

‘You have to have a worthy opponent’

Pooja says that being on social media is “exciting”, though it has its “share of downs”, too, in the form of trolls. “But honestly, it’s their drama and I don’t like fighting with [trolls]. When someone tries to act mean, I’m like, ‘Sorry, but please form your sentences correctly and then I can argue back with you.’ You have to have a worthy opponent,” she quips.

On which network she’s most active on, Pooja, who joined Twitter in 2009, replies, “Twitter has changed drastically in the past few years. It has become pretty much the battleground — there seem to be more paid-for people out there. I don’t think they’re really saying what they believe. They’re saying what they’re paid to say.”

Adding that she prefers Instagram to other platforms, Pooja says, “That’s because I’m an image person in my head, because I like to take pictures. And if I can give you a glimpse of my world, then Instagram is a good way to do it.”

Facebook is something she strictly uses as a tool to be in touch with her friends who live outside the country. “I find it absurd to be talking to somebody eight times a day, meeting them five times a week and then being with them on Facebook also. What the hell is going on!” she laughs. “So, all my friends, whom I see regularly, I refuse to be friends with them on Facebook, because it’s so stupid.”